2007 News « ’06 News    « ’05 News    Current News » September 22-23, 2007 : Treasure Island Weekend Fishies, What a way to cap off the end to DieselFish's 10th season. Treasure Island 2007 had it all. Starting from a killer Happy Hour where some unnamed people had some body shots (what happens in The Cellar stays in The Cellar...) on to some killer racing on both days, and ending with some brews and Hot Mamas at Pizza Orgasmica. From early this Spring at Paragon, all the way to the big show at Treasure Island, DieselFish has put together one of their most successful seasons of racing ever. DieselFish has always had a tradition of brining it big when it counts, and this race at TI we did not fail to deliver.  Big props go out to DieselFish 3!!! Lead by veteran paddler Yvonee and Dani from the Rainbow Koi, DF3 was the only DF crew to bring home some hardware!!!! Way to go DF3!!!! Satuday was definitely a trial for all participants who came race this year. It was the one day this Summer, that Mother Nature decided to show us her fickle disposition. After several days of seasonally high temperatures for this time of year, we were treated to a torrential downpour. As Coach Ken would put it... "nice drops of sunshine." And boy were they big drops...The DF camp turned into a virtual warzone with the tents dropping huge payloads of water onto unsuspecting paddlers. DF2 had a promising start on Saturday throwing down the 3rd fastest time of thier grouping that day. After battling it out on Sunday, Diesel's second crew ended up with a 6th place finish in the Rec A divison. I know alot of DF2 was disapointed by that result after some stellar racing on Saturday, but remember, that is the nature or racing. That is one of the reasons why I love Dragonboating so much. The ever elusive perfect race. So DF2 rember TI 2007 store it and use that to fuel your offseason training so you come back even better in 2008. DieselMeat...mad power + wacky rate + hunger for DieselHotties = Open Championship Final....nuff said. Finally DF1. What can I say, placing 8th overall out of a field of 100+ crews. You guys really did me proud. If you all haven't seen the video of the DF1 Comp A consolation final, you gotta check it out. From last to 2nd in one of the most spectacular finishes I have ever seen in Diesel's history. Across the board great performances from all the DF crews this year!!! Thank you Fishies for all the hard work both on and off the water this year. Thanks to Stef and Nikhil for spending thier time while on the injured reserve still taking care of the Fish!!! Now that's Fishie love for sure. Special thanks to Lisa for all the behind the scenes work that makes Diesel go. Big ups to Connie, Chris and Brian for helping coach the team and making it go DieselFast Thanks Simeon and Sean for making sure the Fish were fed well this weekend (Extra special xie xie to Elli's mom for the super tasty pink boxes of Chinese goodness...)   And most of all THANK YOU Fishies for putting another great weekend in the Diesel history books. You guys ROCK!!! Coach Mark July 27-29, 2007 : Long Beach Weekend Saturday, July 28th The sun rose on a beautiful morning for racing in Long Beach, California. Fueled by Chicken, Waffles, and Syrup Shots, the mighty crews of Dieselfish marched along the beach to victory. Due to the fine planning by our SoCal brothers and sisters, Los Angeles Racing Dragons, our stay was food-filled, giving us the necessary fuel to strike fear into the hearts and minds of paddlers. Banners flew in the wind, some hailing from as far away as Tianjin Province in China. With the promise of stiff competition and convoluted organization in the air, the stage was set for an epic struggle. With all Diesel crews in near back-to-back heats for the duration of the race weekend, we knew we were in for a hectic schedule. Just as we acclimated to the rigours of the schedule, we were met with the ViewSonic Long Beach Dragon Boat Festival's most well known traditional ceremony: the ridiculously complex and overly complicated starting line. "paddle past the line and back-paddle in" came the call. "begin at a 45 degree angle." "now come in from the side and draw-left into position." "Now yodel to the tune of 'O Canada' while the drummer whistles 'Three Coins in a Fountain' and juggles chainsaws." was the next call, but we were running late, so they were forced to scratch that. As the Meat and Hotties started the day off with excellent races, the mixed crews were not to be outdone. DF 1 and DF 2 jockeyed for position and placed themselves high in the Mixed IB and Mixed IIIA Divisions. A long day of seeding races came to an end, and we departed for the fabled Green Field Churrascaria: the wise men spoke of a never ending meat buffet, where men carried meat upon swords, and the beer flowed like water. Such a place exists, and hundreds of ravenous paddlers descended upon the Promised Land. Nothing could have prepared the poor waiters of Green Field for what was in store for them that night, as many hundreds of pounds of meat were devoured, gallons upon gallons of Xingu were drained. However, the chefs of Green Field were seasoned veterans, and they lit their cigars, and dug in for a long night of defeating paddlers. Though they ate valiantly, one by one, they all fell. Only two confirmed paddlers, Nikhil Naidu and myself, managed to survive until the chefs retired at 9:30pm, possibly because all meat in the Western Hemisphere had been consumed. However, the price was dear, as I discovered a new medical condition stemming from meat overdose. As the Meat Coma, an unnaturally deep sleep brought about by massive meat overdose had already been discovered by famed meat-related condition medical researcher Dr. Simon Yu in 1994, the Meat Migraine has now been discovered. Once thought to be an early symptom of Meat Coma, the Meat Migraine has now been discovered to be a sister condition. After this momentous discovery, I will answer only to Doctor. The next round of field research on this debilitating condition is scheduled for the weekend of the 2008 ViewSonic Long Beach Dragon Boat Festival. Sunday, July 29th Day dawned on Sunday, and the Meat crew, the etymology deriving from the presence of men on the boat, and the fact that we were approximately 4 stone worth of meat heavier than the previous day. Dieselfish I hit their stride later in the morning after a quick digestion and doored mightily the foes of Fish, taking the Mixed IB Final over open water, a full thirteen seconds faster than the Tianjin Regional team, in 2nd place. The DF juggernaut continued well into the 200M sprints, a race Dieselfish was not expected to excel in. This was not so. After discovering the merits of dry starts , under the careful guidance of Jason "Steering PhD" Te Whau, Dieselfish I advanced to the finals, and took 5th place in one of the closer races in history, the top 4 boats all posting times of 0:54.XX, with Dieselfish I posting a time of 0:55. Dieselfish II, placed 4th in the first round, and was thought to be eliminated, but due to a scratch by a higher ranked team, Dieselfish II advanced, but was never told. As a result, Dieselfish I accidentally ran their race and placed DFII very high in their next heat, though ultimately DFII was unable to medal in the sprints. As the tents were struck, and the boats were beached, the paddlers filed off to their airports to await their delayed flghts, I'm looking at you, American Airlines flight 3131 with service to San Jose scheduled to depart 8:10, departing... someday. In any case, by the time the sunburns fade, and the salt is washed out of our uniforms, we will have already set our sights on Treasure Island, unseating Dragon Warriors from their throne, and returning the food-filled favor to LARD. Seven Weeks. Dr. Colin Morneau June 15-17, 2007 : Vancouver Race Weekend Mentioning Vancouver to DieselFish doesn't immediately bring up a Canadian city in the Pacific northwest — it's much more esoteric — it's a feeling, an experience, it's the red fire engine in a toy store, that little dog in the window (woof woof), the one with the waggly tail. It's friends, food, fun, it's brotherhood and sisterhood combined to one brosterhood amalgamation; throw in copious amounts of sushi and libations and how can you possibly not create some hot, steaming muffin of lasting memories? For 2007, the Vancouver race didn't match up with a lot of paddler's schedules, so DieselFish borrowed from the Kaiser Dragon Healers and Stanford Dragons — strangers at the beginning, but we bonded quickly — once the glue was set, we were re-branded KaiFishRed. A few of us arrived earlier into Vancouver and toured around the local restaurants and sites: dim sum at Pink Pearl, wandering around Granville Island, dinner at Sha Lin Noodle House (excellent hand-pulled noodles); all the while Chris and Kathy and Claire and Claire's mom and I don't know who else were on the phone with Canadian Airlines trying to locate our paddle/PFD bag that did not pop out of the luggage regurgitation canal at YVR.  For the first race, LARD was gracious enough to let us borrow their paddles, we settled into their BuK boats and came in a respectable 3rd behind Wasabi Mixed and Synergy Legacy. With the first-race jitters out of the way, we ventured off to lunch at Maloney's where some food and camaraderie did us good. For the rest of the weekend, we squeezed into the Gemini boats and their notorious "why the heck is there a pole hitting against my knee" reinforcement design. Ultimately, KaiFishRed placed 3rd in the Rec-B Consolation. .03 seconds away from the second place Wasabi Green and .72 seconds away from Ready, JET, Go!  The Saturday evening feed-fest was at Shabusen Sushi and Korean BBQ, where it's all you can eat sushi and bbq (for 2 hours); hi-jinx ensue. Now, as a general rule, "all you can eat" and "tasty" are not usually common bedfellows, particularly when sushi enters into the equation, but for some reason, that rule is tossed out of the window in Vancouver. It's as if every sushi place is blessed by the patron goddess of fishermen. Or maybe we're just blessed because the patron goddess of fishermen likes to watch our rousing games of spoons — if that's the case, she needs to speak with the patron god of dorm-quiet-hours so we won't have our late night party (politely) shut down.  Vancouver was another success this year, that's including the less savory moments, having another car towed (considering how many cars were NOT towed over the years, we're still ahead, yup-yup) and the missing paddles that eventually showed up after the races — you have to take the good and the bad, the sweet and the sour, the "Oh" with the "My!" to make memories memorable. From the paddler's point of view, here are some of the top Vancouver memories: - Flagging down and hitching a ride with Mr. tow truck guy from Busters to get the rental car out of the tow yard. - Sara - Watching Brian make sure no foodstuff is wasted as he unpacks all the edibles not allowed on the plane and packs it into his stomach. - Jimmy - Thirsty Beavers and Spoons. - Melissa - Nikhil freaking out on Sunday at the tent thinking that somebody had absconded with his Caramel Tofu Dessert. It was as if he didn't get his calorie fill Saturday night at the Asian all-you-can eat. Maybe 2 hours wasn't enough?! - Brian Soo - Two drunk Irish girls wandering into our suite through the fire exit stairs. - "Respect."  You can ask Jimmy to clarify. -Ellis - "Claire and Tamara are interchangeable. .. up to a point." - reported by Colin -Watching an undercover operation right in front of our eyes while trying to head back to UBC. Example: People running with paddles. Guy running into car and into street. German Shepard bites guys leg and HANGS on some other guy comes and hits foot into guys head and 4 or so under cover cop cars come out of nowhere and start yelling!!!! Let me tell you that was an experience. LOL - Claire - Delicious, mouth watering, melt in your mouth TORO. And its all you can EAT!!!!! Diesel heaven!!! :) - Suzie - Eating ridiculous amounts of cornflakes out of ridiculously small bowls... QED, - Lawrence Pang - Discovering extra large Kit-Kat bars, and buying a whole case of them at Costco.  Never was much of a Kit-Kat fan, but the chunky ones are different. NOTE: They're pretty good cold.  My kids (clients) also have become a fan of them. ;-) - Tami - Cramming 7 people in a Ford Fusion and rolling past a dozen police officers (hoping they can't see into the heavily tinted windows). :-) - Kathy Yen - The pride I felt for the crew when we had our "magic" race! - Chris Jasper - Jimmy walking out of the dorm kitchen with several large knives and returning with a remarkable team logo and stamp a short while later.  I was worried at first....... - Tamara - Learning from Jimmy how to raise $500,000 in bail money. - Alan A Bunch of memories from Claire: - Sean, Tamara, Claire running through SFO from United to Air Canada.  - Watching Tamara stress out cuz they are taking all her liquids - Barely making our flight. - Tamara almost getting kicked out of customs due to loud voice. anyone surprised here!!!! - Sub restaurant re-opens to feed hungry/pissed off Claire. - Paddle bag = GONE - Missing Daniel for the night to "hang" out with a "friend" - Ellis's mom arriving to the race site with boiled .05 eggs! - Rental car towed. watching sara being taken away by "Busters towing" (whom EVERYONE seemed to know who and where their office was located - what does that tell ya) hoping we'll see here again considering the sketchy area. - Looking for booze after 6pm - Tamara getting locked out of her dorm area due to going the wrong way after peeing in the middle of the night  and having to sleep on the couch of another dorm area. - Last race - missed the call of the last start thanks to the obnoxious loud team next to us. came in 3rd out of 8 anyway :)))) - Watching an undercover operation unfold in front of our eyes (german shepherd bite and guns and all!) - The infamous "OH MY" being passed around which also included ummm a *special* stimulant LOL - Racing our last race as ONE team, ONE heart = PRICELESS!!! ! THANK YOU! You have given us quite the fondest of memories that I know I'll never forget. .:*~*:. Jimbo .:*~*:. May 12, 2007 : Paragon Point Races May 12 was a beautiful day for the season opener at Paragon Point in Belmont, California. The Regional Regatta is the first official race for all local teams to get their feet wet. Far and wide, fishies salty and new came out in full force... way to represent Diesel! Despite the winds, we worked hard and pulled out great qualifying times. With each advancement brought more synchronization and rhythm on the boat, I think I heard a few analogies rolling around: "Diesel is like a fine oiled machine," "Diesel just kicks a**!" In the distance you can hear the cries of inspiration, "REACH, stretch another inch, head up, longer, stronger!" When it counted, Diesel "dumped" it all HARD — and provided us with many nail biting finishes. Woo-Hoo! Why do we paddle?? To EAT!!!! After a grueling run, everyone feasted on deli meats and other delicious treats. Special props go out to Ellis and his mom for indulging us with the fresh baked goodies — cha siu baos (pork buns) and dan tats (custard tarts). Yummmmmm! After a photo finish, Diesel gathered at Oasis for some more bonding and of course EATING!!!! So don't be shy... come out and join the fun! Word on the street is 'Diesel Is Dangerous When Wet!!' ~Cassandra April 17, 2007 : Season Kickoff On Saturday, April 17th the undivided attention of the San Francisco Bay-Area was focused on Huddart County Park. Well, maybe not, but DieselFish did have it's 2007 Season Kickoff Event. Over the course of 5 hours, fishies (both salted and fresh) ate, drank and made merry. The first couple of hours before lunch were filled with icebreakers and other, more competitive events. First up was an icebreaker designed to show us who among us were honest, upright citizens as opposed to lying, cheating knaves-and then reward the best liar with the most points. As it turned out Will was the most honest person out of everyone there. Connie Chan proved to be the best liar, a result which everyone should remember. The next three events required teams to be formed. After forming a long line according to birthdates, teams of 5 people each were formed. After the usual trash-talking everyone dispersed in a nearby picnic field for an Easter Egg hunt. Instead of being filled with chocolate, however, the eggs were filled with scraps of photos. The objective was to find all the scraps that made up a complete picture, assemble them in the correct order and then tape them to the back of a team-member. A complete picture was worth 50 points and a portion of a picture was worth 10 points. Two teams in particular distinguished themselves: Team Todem and (the inventively named) Team March. Team March came out on top with 400 points and Team Todem was the next closest with 360 points. After adding in the points from the icebreaker, the standings remained unchanged. The deciding event was an unusual one. Sean O'Hara, the Master of Ceremonies opened a cooler to reveal some plain white t-shirts that had been frozen solid. The only objective was to unfreeze the t-shirt as fast as possible and then model it. The catch was that not all the t-shirts were frozen to the same degree and teams would be getting first pick of the shirts based on their finish in the last event. As soon as the event started, each of the team representatives entered intense competition to see who could unfreeze their shirt first. The closest men's bathroom was the site of a battle for the use of the tap that can only be described as intense. Some time later, Nikhil of Team Todem ran out of the bathroom with Colin in hot pursuit. Despite an awesome (and slightly scary) tackle from Colin, Team Todem were declared winners of the event shortly after. The last event required that each team use their blank t-shirt to design a new t-shirt for the team. Team Rockstars won this contest (finally!) — design to be announced at end of season banquet! After all this excitement, everyone was ready for food and drinks. Showing their generosity, everyone attending had bought food for a potluck style lunch, bring this event to a very satisfying end. Colin and Simeon get massive kudos for taking care of everyone's BBQ needs. Thanks guys! Thanks also to Sean O'Hara, Claire Murtaugh and Simeon(again!) for doing all the work to make this event a success. (Editor's Note: After the daytime festivities, several paddlers hiked in the trails around the park and camped overnight in Sean's Taj Mahal tent. A tent so large, it could fit 3 queen sized mattresses, 30 1/2 adults, a disco light, and that's just the upstairs.) ~Nikhil March 2007 ***Drum Roll*** And yes — it's started!  DieselFish's long awaited 10th Season!!  Go DF-X!  The sun is out (longer) the weather's warming up: it's time to wipe the cobwebs off the paddles and dust off the pfds!  I'm so excited to be kicking off this milestone season with such a pumped up and dedicated core group of paddlers.  And I'm so very proud to see DieselFish running stronger than ever as we round that decade corner. We've got such a fun season planned!  Our official start date was Tuesday March 20 and while every person at practice that evening was near frozen solid as we docked back at BIAC ("today was the first day of Spring?!  My fanny!!") how EXCITED was I to see a solid 23 paddlers eager to welcome a Tuesday night practice!  With races beginning in May, trips to Vancouver and Long Beach on the calendar, the near-famous San Francisco International DB Festival at Treasure Island in September, social events and fundraisers around every corner...there's just so much to look forward to this summer.  Meanwhile the Fishies have fun no matter what we're doing! Paddles up DieselFish!  Get ready to kick some fin and have an amazingly fun time this season! ~Lisa Stoddard DieselFish Team Manager March 2007 Read onwards and backwards to the 2006 DieselFish News »

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